from the heart. feels like coming home.

when I crossed into the Pennsylvania state boarder last week I smiled and said to myself, “welcome home”

as much as I’ve changed, moved on, moved around, been away it still always feels like coming home.

this farm in Maine is where i sojourner and i’ve been blessed here. but my heart is not here… i am always one for “leading your heart” and sometimes i believe my “heart” can learn to be here but time will only tell if this is actually where i even belong. the fact that i’m willing to say this out loud is a huge step, if this where a 12 step program for “Learning to More Than Survive Maine” then this would be like step 10 or something : )

but truth is, i will always be a Pennsylvania cowgirl.

a new thing i’m doing…

you’ll start noticing little posts who’s titles will begin with “from the heart” and then follow up with something.
when it says from the heart it’s a new little thing i’m doing… these will just be short [or long?] posts that come from my heart…. heart to heart musings.
just a heads up, my blog will still have “my research” and “my daily life” too
God bless y’all.

.my political statement.

here’s my political statement..

I support a Higher Power. The Higher Power Who for centuries and centuries has decided the goverment’s patterns and will continue to do so without any help from me [Job 38-] I have often thought that; if we were doing things the way He ordanined anyway we wouldn’t have such a “mess” [and it's true, but not the plan] but you know what, things ARE GOING TO GET WORSE before He makes them better! I know this, therefore I am NOT worried!

HE IS IN CHARGE, HIS plan will prevail. THIS is His plan. He sets up kings and takes down kings, you might think you’re playing some role in this but ha, you have NO idea how insignificant you are.

Something to chew on….

Romans thirteen one.

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Careful when you vote… or you could be found kicking against the prods if you vote for the one GOD does NOT put in office.

Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

While the verse above DOES mean a variety of things.. could mean, resisting arrest, could mean resisting laws that are in effect, but it also means quite clearly that if we RESIST the authorities GOD puts in place we are disobedient.

If we try to ordain our will and vote for who we humanly see as the best “next in line” we could be failing miserably in our human way and resisting the plan of God. no one can change the course of God, but we can resist until he gives us the gift of understanding to see the beauty of letting Him work

i hear folks going on about how bad Obama is, making fun of him, insulting or just thanking God he’ll be gone soon,  [not to mention all the junk been said about Bush and etc etc] well… sorry to bust your bubble folks but just as David said to Saul, you are my king, I cannot take your head. We too must understand the concept.

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to [execute] wrath upon him that doeth evil.

The words to look at are “For he is a minister of God to you” the rest is explaining why. He is a minister of God to us because God set him up as authority.

What ever ill he does, shall bring about the plan – what ever good he does, shall bring about the plan.

we are living a Christ like life if we are Christians, let’s not warn people about who to vote for and who to shun, let’s warn people about the end – the wrath to come – if we must be prophets. Just like Jesus did.

Wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of darkness. [Eph 6;12]

to be continued….

a call to interact.

hello, my friends, i know you’re here, i know you’ve been here. i’m watching you watch me.

when you talk about things i say on here or you comment to me how you liked a blog post it tells me two things, 1. you are here and 2. you didn’t interact with me here.

this is a call to interact. blog back at me. yell, question, agree, say what ever, it’s not that i care what you say, it’s that i care you take the extra incentive to enjoy outloud.

i’ll keep blogging because it’s therapy for me, the only cheap therapy i can afford : )

you’re welcome to share or talk about anything i write here, all you want…

but i’d like to hear more from y’all. HERE.

i have a feeling it will go on with “oh, that blog post about yadaya was so informative” and “that photo was so cute from a couple blog posts ago” at every other location but this blog, but….

you can prove me wrong, go ahead : )

dedicated:)

this is dedicated to all of the strong ones. who fought for loved ones and relationships, had junk thrown in their face and still loved through it all. this is suppose to be from “their point of view”

~~

you call me angel

but i am no saint

you call me evil

but i am no devil

your moods switch

they change so fast

your back and forth

just like the wind

i always stood strong

to guide you back in

i guess that counts for something

 

i loved you even

when you walked away

i watched you change

like night to day

you fell in love

you fell back out

you came to me

in self pity and self doubt

 

your beautiful

you were angry, all the time

you hate to be wrong

but your wrong just the same

 

there’s moments when i thought

we could get through this

but you never gave a chance away

without selfishness

 

i wanted to teach you

but all i could do was guide

i felt so disheartened

but i showed my gentle side

over and over again

 

after every rain storm

God gives a rainbow

catching us off guard

teaching us to know

blessings in disguise

make us strong all the time

and i laughed the day

He made you mine.

the Barn. Part V.

Did you know that while trying to find the center of something, that if two sets of objects are both “off” by a half inch both in the same direction that it magically becomes centered again??!

Project Barn 2011 was becoming tiring… understatement of the year.

Working outdoors in December meant it was usually either just chilly and really wet or it was plain out cold and frozen… it really can be disheartening. Working as hard as we are and stuggling with a constant battle against soaking wet days or freezing cold days can be exhausting… mind and body.

On day 38 I wandered for five minutes around the barn site searching for my hammer. Sighing with frustration I jammed my hands in my large coat pockets to warm them up and found where I’d put my hammer. The coat pocket is large enough to accomidate the hammer head and the rest of the hammer sticks up out of the pocket and so I have no idea how I forgot it was there, it bumps my arm any time I try to bend or move much… that’s how mentally blocked out we were getting.

And then we got a warm snap. The 46 degrees, balmy, southern breezey days we got, a few in a row. It lifted the spirit a bit and the work ethic, although I was spending the same amount of time out side – pretty much all my daylight hours – it lifted the work ethic spirit and helped with productivity. God is good.

The walls were all up, the ridge pole in place, the rafters were going up! Our sawyer put us under delay after delay… taking vacation, working off site and not cutting wood… but finally all the rafters were up! We began laying strapping down and then, the roof was ready for metal…

rafters going up….

.hair.

this is for my doubting friends.

this post is for all those friends of mine who doubted that putting “all that stuff” that I put in my hair is different from putting “all that stuff” they put in theirs.

well, folks. time is the test and mine has not fallen short. while you go through spells where “your hair just won’t do right” i’ve always been in love with my hair.

the junk you put in your hair and let your hair stylists put in your hair would make my hair turn over in it’s grave, were it dead.

“all that stuff” i put in my hair is natural and happy. peroxide, German chamomile, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil and aloe.

i would literally rather die before subjecting my hair to a perm.

my hair has always done right by me. from time to time i get bored with the style i cut it in but my hair, albeit sometimes thick as thieves, has always been my happy point.

i love my hair. i’ll say it today, i’ve said it for years, i’ll say it tomorrow!

 

mmkaythanks.

.A land flowing with milk and honey.

It came as an amusing new thought to me when we realized why God was always promising His good people a land flowing with milk and honey….

We did a lot of research lately – over the past year or more – on teeth, gum and mouth health because my little sister has a problem with a couple of her teeth.

And what we found, then experimented and found to work, was raw, homemade butter and raw honey – together – daily – is like a miracle food, and especially such for teeth.

God knew this. That’s why He was always promising the two together!

Such a neat discovery! : )

.the Barn. Part IV

not even a week after the sickness knocked me out for a day, i put a pitch fork through my foot. not one of my better moments. the exhaustion from long hours and little sleep had caught up.

i was laid up for four days, at which time i caught up on some sleep but the pain didn’t help.

day four after my injury i wrapped up in my boot cast and headed back out. it was so good to be back outside, doing chores, putting up walls.

the walls began to go a lot fast, the south wall up in three hours, the east wall in two hours – not even.

on the 5th of December – day 28 of Project Barn 2011 – I headed North West to Amish country for roofing medal.

the Amish are some of my favorite people, no matter what stresses or fast paces you have going in your life you get to Smyrna [our local Amish country] you just naturally slow down.

i really enjoyed being up there. they are busy but they always have the presence of mind to keep up with you. i almost walked out and drove off from the shop without the screws I had already paid for along with the medal roofing that was already loaded on my truck.

and the guy in the office had three other people with a bunch of problems and questions but he came out after me asking if i had gotten my screws to go with the order. i had completely forgotten! haha.

they really are nice guys who work at the metal place.

then i stopped by the Pioneer Store [love that store, but didnt have time to stay] to ask where the Tack Shop had moved to. because a friend of mine asked me to stop in and find out their prices on harnesses the next time i was up there because he’s trying to sell his leather draft horse harness and didn’t know what to price it at. 

so i drove down to the tack shop at it’s new place of residency. i couldn’t help myself i wasted a few minutes there just talking and listening and catching up on the new, great ideas that the Amish are always coming up with as far as horse “la natural” and longevity.

p.s. these photos of the Amish are really from my area! these are my Amish : ) I know the places in both photos and some of these people!

then it was off to houlton to stock up on grain for the critters.

it was a gorgeous day, albeit it spent driving and driving and driving. everything is a long drive from where i live : )

but that afternoon i got most of half the West wall up and the next day finished it. all the walls were up and done!

then we began working on the beams for the rafters… day 29 the first beam was constructed and set, day 30, the second beam. day 31 we began working on the ride pole, preparing to set it in place….

.how to. Positive Vibe.

 i have had to learn to be a more positive person.

sometimes i just don’t wanna be, but the more i train myself in the good habits of positive vibes the easier it becomes through out my life. 

affirmative answers; super charge them with positive vibes! if someone asks for your help or asks you a question and the answer is affirmative then give it all you’ve got. you’ve got good news so why not super charge it? i.e. yes, we’ll be happy to help = yes, absolutely! we’d love to help out with that project, sounds like a real ground breaker! super charge your voice with positive energy, out of the heart the mouth speaks… train your heart, train your mouth to speak positive. 

smile. it isn’t always easy and at first might not always even be from the heart, but if you start you do it better, more, and start to enjoy it! for a couple years now i’ve been working in a program at a summer camp where we usually deal with a lot of people on a daily basis who are getting first impressions of us and expecting us to be friendly, helpful staff. that’s what we have to do. smile, answer as affirmatively as possible, do what ever we can to make the guests week a success so they’ll come back and keep it positive, Godly energy. plus you never know who’s going to have a camera and frowning staff never look good frozen.ha. [not seriously, well, sort of i guess] anyway, i’ve learned how to keep a smile on my face just about at all times…

positive clothes. we all – or most of us – really enjoy our brown, black and blues. safe colors, colors we feel established in. expand, put some positive color in your wardrobe. yellows, oranges, greens, lighter blues, prints, pink [ if you must ]… super charge your closet with a little color… go with your colors, don’t fight yourself, you don’t have to wear colors that make you feel ugly, you’ll find your own personal range of color if you experiment a little. 

Philippians 4. whatever things are lovely, whatever things are pure, what ever things true, what ever is of good report… keep positive thoughts. think well, judge less, use logic. 

all these things will not only make you come across as a more positive, happy person it will also help you learn to feel that way, for those of us who don’t already have this come to us naturally, all you who do, lucky dogs  ; )

.the Barn. Part III

so we had a glorified corral. it surely would have held any of the horses in, but that’s about it : )

day 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12… they drug on and on… there were times that we got one board done per hour. the measuring, the cutting, the is it right, is it wrong? here, there? where? does take so long.

when you’re not sure of what you’re doing the measure twice, cut once becomes, measure five times usually cut twice – sometimes three times because you didn’t cut enough the first time.. the safer than sorry theory takes forever.

the whole bottom layer of strapping was first 2 1/2 feet off the ground… a friend of ours brought in his cousin who is a professional builder to give us some advice and the whole bottom layer then had to be taken off and put down at 18 inch level. talk about two steps forward, three steps back. which in the end still equals 5 steps forward, thank God, a few days later.

the strapping took a good two weeks… then things began to pick up pace a bit. the poles were cut;

cutting the poles on the North wall level. thanks Ron and Steve!

once the poles on the North wall and then South wall the best part began… I began the walls! leveling the ground beneath the wall, laying out one inch boards as sets and then fitting the wall boards together, snug and snap, six nails per board…

the North wall was begun…. the first wall took a good three or four days for us to finish… partly because during this time i was sick, partly because it was the first wall and the first things always go slow. after that, the walls usually took two or three hours per wall. not bad, not bad at all….

the North wall was done;

but before any more walls could go up my sickness got the better of me and day 15 saw me flat out on my back for an entire day… at which time they began laying the floor joyces for the loft floor….

.Murphy’s oil soap.

this evening i bathed my dog with Murphy’s oil soap at the recommendation of a friend of a friend who has labs and experience with their coat types.

it came as a shock to me but i couldn’t find any reason NOT to do it.

she told me that the natural oils in it exfoliate with her skin instead
of against her skin to keep it’s proper oil balance without stripping it but ALSO killing any fleas.

i have been bathing her on a schedule to keep the flea’s away. the trick is every bath, five minutes of full sudz because the sudz kill the live fleas, bath every 12 to 15 days. well, the bath every 12 to 15 days [flea egg cycle] was working for the fleas – we’ve been flea free and happy – but the shampoo’s and soaps just were NOT making her skin happy.

tonights bath left her coat feeling clean and smelling awesome – but not feeling stripped of it’s protection and all it’s oils.

Advantages:
1. Mild
2. Organic (pine bark)
3. pH is right for dogs
4. mild to no eye irritation (I don’t protect the eyes when using this)
5. rinses in and out easily (better than the expensive shampoo I have as an      alternative)
6. pleasant fragrance that doesn’t linger
7. inexpensive
8. cleans the bathroom when you’re through
9. available anywhere
10.leaves the coat silky and shiny
11.kills fleas

quoted from a blogger who did a pH balance test before using it and found it more well balanced then the shampoo’s she used herself. and has been using this for ten years on dogs.

ingrediants list;

water

citronella oil

Sodium Tallate [i.e. soap, typically the kind derived from palm, coconut and olive oil]

Lauramidopropylamine oxide [this is the only one that makes me wary... because while it is a "fatty acid" they don't say whether it's synthetic or not... if it's not an organic complex then, hmmm]

Tetrasodium EDTA [the sort of thing that makes hard water soft]

i kind of wish the company had stayed with the old ingredients of the Original Brand Murphy’s Oil soap… but you know how it goes. i’m not so worried, with a mild warning like, “if swallowed drink a glass of water to dilute” it’s not toxic.

it was a deep clean but the oils in it made it also a deep conditioner. i think i’ve really found the solution now. unless there are any adverse side effects during the experiment this is my new love : )

how did i eliminate fleas? they were driving me nuts but i could not bring myself to put flea medication from over the vet’s counter on my dogs even once more [yes, i did it before in a state of desperation, shame on me!] so i knew i had to find a way!

bath schedule. borax on all bedding and floors. clean, healthy diet, monitored activities and socialization with other -could-be-carriers.

so happy to be flea free!!

.those friendships.

in answering a question the other day i surmised this about “best friendship”

“  A best friend is someone who confides in you, always wants to be with you, will tell you when you’ve been rude, laughs at your even-not-funny jokes and finds and uses your strengths and weaknesses, right?  

 

well, it got me thinking… what else evaluates a best friendship. i mean, best friendships can come and go, they aren’t always “forever” like everybody says. what else could i add to my opinion of “best friendship”?

sometimes you’re sad to see it go, sometimes you’re ok with it and just smile when you think back, sometimes it wrecks your life. but you always notice. it’s never one of those things that just…
sometimes best friend ships can survive better with a healthy does of “what’s better left unsaid” fades out of your life and you forget, otherwise it obviously wasn’t a best friendship.
an honest honesty. the kind of honesty that doesn’t always get spoken, it gets lived.

you don’t have to bare your heart and soul, confess to love or have a daily heart to heart to have a best friend….

it’s just something you open your eyes too and it’s there or it’s not. you don’t have to search it out… you can look up and find it at any moment, you can find it in shock and grief, you can find it in a shared moment of joy…

‘

i’ve already gone over the part where, they like to confide in you, they trust you and your advice and opinions… even/also value it. also i said, they want to be with you, heaven knows why sometimes, but they do. they’ll choose to talk to you, to spend time with you, to work with you over another when given the option. they’ll laugh for you [those not-funny jokes you make... we all know that when a joke isn't funny your friends are laughing FOR you] they’ll

point out good things about you. they’ll point out bad things about you without hurting you. they understand you, they’ll laugh at you, pick you up when you’re down, pull you down when you’re too high.

what about when they end a story with “i’ve never even told that to anyone else”

but deeper then that, what about the part where, they’re willing to tell you you’ve been rude.

then you have the part where they notice everything. your clothes, your laugh, your jokes, your music, your opinion, your talents, your weaknessness. they notice, for real! because to them, your an interesting person, for real!

and when someone likes a song, genuinely likes a song just because you do, well, that’s true adoration. haha!

but if you mix all these things up, then you have a good combination for best friendship… if someone just adores you it’s gonna wear off fast.

if someone is just honest with you, always calling out your faults and weaknessess, it’s gonna get old even faster.

i say this through experience, i have some of both of those people in my life.

but i’ve also had a few best friends in my life.

i suppose a lot of my view points are formed because i am friends with a lot of men. and we all know how tricky it is, especially for those on the outside looking in, to judge where you’re friends and where you’re not. and by not, i mean more.

word of caution; don’t hold up under insult in the name of friendship. and don’t ever make someone else hold up under your insult in the name of friendship. it’s wrong.
when you deem yourself someone’s best friend, do you bring these good influences to the relationship or are you simply taking the good they give? judge yourself.a best friend is someone who gives wisdom, encouragement, help, love, honest, and beauty to your life. for long this person brings these good influences to your life is not a matter of determining if it’s best friendship. you do not have to know them forever or be with them forever to have known best friendship with them.

to sum myself up, i’d like to say, i will always treasure my best friends, even if i do it after the fact.

.the Barn. Part II

as previously promised here is the beginning of the chronicles of  Project Barn 2011.

Plans for Project Barn 2011 were in effect – barn fund started – early in the 2011 year and even mid and late 2010 year. But the hold ups were in-numerous.

Work contractors for doing ground work and preparing the barn site were unavailable summer 2011 was spent – besides working at camp, working here, riding lessons, boarding, training, etc – making plans, changing them and making more. layout, laid up, print out, blue prints and floor plans.

they changed, from time to time. from mood to mood. loft, no loft, yes, loft, bad loft. let’s toss for it. loft, yes, no, half loft, maybe so.

late June i had a riding accident that laid me up for a week and was in a cast for three weeks. but we all know the hay fields call by middle of July so that’s when i had to heal and so it was. and although it hurt for months longer than it was suppose to i just keep promising myself it will finish healing.

so August rolled around, plans for the barn kept mixing and matching, we coined the phrase, “we’ll figure it out when we get there, lets get this done first” and worked feverishly hard to get the people lined up to do the jobs we couldn’t do ourselves. which was our two saw millers and the bull dozer for the ground work.

September saw one of the best Labor Day weekend and week spent out in Springfield ever. we thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship and fun at the fair. Masey tossed her head around and showed off for all the camera’s and brought home a lot of blue colors.

but the end of September rolled around and… again, still waiting for all these people who keep promising “soon, next week soon.” we waited.

miller number two had three break downs, two extra weeks of wait plus his previous job kept lasting longer and longer before he finally got out to our place.

October 18th saw Sheridan Smith and Son’s bull dozer begin ground work.

October 19th saw White roll in and set up his saw mill and get to work.

work continued, stump by stump, hill by rolling hill, all began to become more gentle slopes and treeless ground.

bull dozer left October 27.

the grounds were level, all was ready, but all was very muddy. the snow first snow storm came and went. we watched it lay heavy over the earth, turn to slush and melt away. our snowman stood watch the longest.

our friend’s neighbor came out with his tractor and post hole digger,  all 16 four foot holes were dug. same day as my youngest riding student came for her first lesson of the month of November… the 7th. on the 8th we planted the poles with another family acquaintance’s help and his John Deere.

day 2;

the next day the poles were leveled, buried and supported. for the next entire two weeks our efforts were concentrated on wall strapping. the structure was coming together… it was beginning. it was really turning into something… right now it just looked like a glorified corral but it was something….

sneak peak preview! see it here before anyone does anywhere else!

glorified corral;

.my barn. Part I

the barn chronicles are long and drawn out. but fascinating. they will be soon available for your reading pleasure : )

.happy alternatives.

this is my list of happy natural alternitives. i decided to share. what seems so common place to me, I’ve come to realize, really is new to some people or is totally outlandish to think of for other people! so many friends of mine are starting to go “la natural” as my cousin put it recently. it’s so great! here goes : )

tooth paste! watch out for those fluorides and sodium lauryl sulfate! they give you cancer and actually decay your pearly whites try Tom’s of Maine All Natural!

deodorant! did you know that most antiperspirants and deodorants use Aluminum Chloro-hydrate? yep, leading aid in Breast Cancer. did you know how it works is by clogging up the pores in your under arm to stop smell? it’s pretty scary the kinds of things that clogging up your pores can do to an under arm after a while… like growths that require surgery in sever cases.  Again , try Tom’s Of Maine deodorants or TheCrystal.com’s deodorants!

pain relief! instead of reaching for addictive pain killers or even Tylenol [did you know that Acetaminophen is a synthetic, nonopiate, centrally acting analgesic derived from p-aminophenol. The full chemical name is N-acetyl-p-aminophenol. Key word, Synthetic] off the shelf try Turmeric Herb. built up in your system it can offer optimal natural pain relief. or if quick pain relief is needed try willow bark tea or tincture! or for head aches try sniffing dry peppermint herb or rubbing a bit of a mixture of Lavender Essential Oil and Oil of Peppermint on your temples and forehead and dot under your nose. OR at the VERY least toss out all the synthetic, man made pain killers and use Aspirin. It is the one pain relief medicine on the market that is still natural and usually can be found in a form that’s not been tampered with.

teeth, gum, tongue, tonsil infections [including sore throats]! again, Turmeric herb. certain doses for certain ailments. does wonders! for a sore throat - gargling with cayenne pepper water helps not only relieve soreness but heal!

food! this is actually – perhaps surprisingly for some folks – the most important part of naturally healthy living. Good food, organic, home grown, all natural products are becoming more and more rapidly easily accessible to your everyday average layman. USE the RESOURCES!

sugar! white sugar is evil. it will kill you. : ) having said that, yes, white sugar is one of the greatest sources for a long list of illnesses and disease. diabetes is just one of them! exhaustion, clogged bowels, organ failure, colon clogs, etc etc are stemmed from white sugar and white flour. there is an alternative - actually several! for light sweeteners – with super power strength a natural sugar like Stevia is great. but be careful when you first start using it, it seems impossible but just a pinch is sweeter than half a cup of sugar! for cooking and baking there is my favorite sugar ever! it’s called Cane Juice Sugar [a.k.a. Fair Trade Organic Sucanat] and it’s an all natural brown sugar. plus not to mention how many recipes can use honey as sweeteners and turn out terrific! for processed white flour – the problems there are mostly the bleaching. go with white flours that ARE NOT bleached and as many whole grain, wheat, oat flours as possible. do the research on sugar, and processed white flours, you’ll wish you had. feeling fatigue you can’t explain? headaches that come and go without explanation and start staying longer? feel a drag throughout the day? cut out white sugars [and best yet, bleached white flours too!] from your diet for two weeks [so that all remnants of the sugar are out of your system] and see what kind of difference you find!

raw! raw foods, raw milks! always better in the raw. build your body up to it for best results. add to that free range chicken eggs, red meats and poultry without growth hormones. AND not least, follow the dietary laws of the Old Testament in the Bible. Even before science found out why it’s actually not healthy to eat pig – God knew.

clothes! did you know that your clothes being too tight can actually stunt growth? ladies, those under wire bras and tight clothing around especially the breasts at a young age are stunting your growth and can cause pain later on in life too! also, ladies and gents; cottons and wools are the best cloth to put next to your skin. organic cotton and wool are even better! did you know that the fashion many decades ago was to mix linen and wool? Well, guess what, people found out it was molding on their bodies! I guess God knew why He specifically said not to mix those two cloth types.

antibiotics! here’s a new one i recently learned and it’s way too good not to share.. an Essential oils called Thieves is a natural antibiotic when taken internally. it has to be food grade Oil. and added to that, a recent injury to myself personally lead me to the discovery of Hypericum [I began research it and wondered if it had any credit, then my wonderful friend Clarissa gave me info on! then i knew there must be something to it] which can help heal/fight and PREVENT Tetanus!

jewelry! did you know that prolonged use of medals against your skin and body can be harmful? using hemp cord and beads, and leathers and precious stones are a gorgeous, healthy alternative.

hair! keep it natural, don’t cut it a lot, don’t dye your hair, don’t perm your hair, use organic shampoo or conditioner products and keep blow drying to a minimal and never too high a heat. by the time I was 15 years old my hair had never been cut more than three inches at a time to trim off dead ends, seen a blow dryer maybe a dozen times [mostly when i was sick and my hair needed to be dry before bedtime] and never ever ever have dyed my hair and anyone who knows my mother knows we always had the best of the best shampoo and soap around. it’s no wonder everybody loves my hair.

soap! which includes shampoos and hair products! keep it natural. aloe, olive oil, Essential oils, Rose oils, etc are best types of soap. my two personal favorite is the honeysuckle soap from Clearly Natural. and Aloe and Olive from Kiss My Face. for shampoo’s avoid anything with alcohol bases and ingredients you can’t even pronounce. or try alternative ideas such as baking soda washing, vinegar treatments, even fruit treatments. Here is a blog link to a friend of mine who is experimenting now with alternatives to shampooing! http://gracieworks.wordpress.com/

moisturizer! there is none other than Kiss My Face Olive and Aloe that I personally love more, but there are many many from the Kiss My Face line that are great, plus natural fruit scrubs you can use that will leave you with a healthy glow.

cosmetics! don’t use make up. it clogs pores, and dry’s skin, not to mention – it’s so fake! duh! if you have to use make up use an organic, non alcohol based product. but like i said before, “la natural” is the best way to go. i’ve had several girls come to me over the past year telling me they’ve stopped using some kind of make up – whether mascara  foundation, lipstick, etc and are amazed at how much happier they are.

One girl who told me she no longer used mascara [after prolonged time that i had gentle chided her over and over] told me how much lighter and cleaner her eyes felt and it made such a difference. also, lipstick, so many have begun embracing chap sticks instead of lipsticks and find that if you embrace your lips naturally they will shine for you : )

the stories go on and on. also, don’t paint your nails, it keeps out the sunlight [yes, even the clear stuff!] and is a prime breeding ground for bacteria!

chapstick! Burt’s Bee’s. best stuff out there in my personal opinion. look it up, try the different kinds, use it, love it.

here’s my personal make up story.

all my life i grew up with good food diet, good personal hygiene practices and a mother who knew what it meant to stay healthy. because of those things i was blessed with healthy skin. i mean the kind of healthy skin where i rarely have/had pimples through teenage hood, to the point of when and if i did it was one or two from time to time. washing my face in the morning, brushing my teeth, applying a liberal dose of Kiss My Face Olive and Aloe lotion. repeated each night, whether or not i had a bath or shower. i had healthy, rosy, happy skin. as much as it kills me to say it, at about the age of 18 i began finding make up alluring.

i began experimenting. a touch of lipstick here, some mascara there, a bit of powder for fun. i’ve never been a fan of heavy make up so i always kept it looking natural and nobody noticed much. but i did, my lips began to complain, they were insulted by such terrible treatment. my eyes began to revolt. and my face began to get oily.

needless to say, it really didn’t take long. make up is a thing of my past. i’m back to my happy, healthy skin [have been for years] and love it, love it, love it. it’s been even more recently that i began using/then gave up finger nail polishes. perhaps i’ll share that story later : )

like I said, during a recent injury I had my friend Clarissa was super helpful in research and information on all the natural remedy subjects. Between her and my mother they had my head spinning [in a good-that-makes-me-feel-better-knowing-i-might-not-die kind of way. haha] with all the good advice! my mother’s miracle herb Turmeric gave me tons of pain relief, Clarissa’s Thieves idea [of taken internally] gave my body the boost it needed to fight with good white cells against infection and i never even got a fever!

there are so many little things, the lists go on and on.

such as, dandylion milk and grapefruit seed extract for warts.

a light touch of warm olive oil for ear aches/infections.

itchy, dandruff scalp? apple cider vinegar rinse!

apples with the peel on relieve diarrhea. apples with the peels off relieve constipation. but did you know, eat an apple a day [organic is best!] and your bowels will stay regulated?

here is my philosophy on life’s natural health and how to approach it in a Godly way of service and health.

PREVENT – take measures to keep your health and prevent the bad things.

PROTECT – yourself by preventing and using good judgement. abstaining from certain foods, from certain places, from interaction with kinds of germs, from bad health choices mentally, physically and spiritually, etc.

PRAY – for good health, for God’s love towards all, and His wisdom. our attitude toward God and our interaction with Him has a HUGE bearing on how we stay healthy and how we heal when bad things happen.

POLISH – yourself up with natural health and happiness!

health is everything, don’t waste it on passing pleasures that turn into permanent pains.

.the crystal.

for a while now i’ve been meaning to share something with you all.

it’s a deodorant with the cancer awareness society’s endorsement :)

it’s called – simply – the crystal. www.thecrystal.com

my favorite is the plain roll on. seen above.

check out the products here, http://www.thecrystal.com/product_information.cfm

I would suggest the roll on types because they have the real organic mineral complex Potassium alum while the Rocks have the synthetic copy cat Ammonium Alum. Ammonium Alum can be more dangerous and doesn’t work as well as the real deal.

my cousin was once having an allergic reaction to deodorant [she thought it was poison ivy because we were camping out!! haha] but it turned out that it was the store brand deodorant she was using, once she switched to the crystal she’s never had allergies.

it’s simply a mixture of minerals to achieve results. this organic mineral substance doesn’t work by clogging pores [as most non natural deodorants do] it works by fighting the bacteria - killing the smelly bacteria’s and leaving your pores open and your sweat fresh. haha.

anyway, i love this stuff, it really really works, leaves no stains on skin or clothing, no salt traces, or residue on the skin. Clean, Fresh, Happy

here’s some news.

http://www.naturalcosmeticnews.com/focus/crystal-deodorant-stone-natural-or-not/

http://www.naturalcosmeticnews.com/new-ingredients/the-most-effective-natural-deodorant-ingredient-potassium-alum/

I encourage research!

.sunshine and blessings.

actually those two things are the same! We’ve been blessed with such beautiful weather this Fall.

the barn building could not and would not have been so possible [three weeks in and we're just about at the roof - almost, almost] had it not been for the wonderful weather.

Nov, 30th, 6:30 am, 55 degrees! It’s shocking! But then it’s not shocking, I mean, I did ask for it

we had so many complications through out the year with getting the barn site ready and the barn begun… it was out of our hands but God gave us the extra sunshine and held back the snow because He knew.

I was studying one morning and came across this… it spoke right out to me. Lately I’ve talked to folks and had folks going on and on about all the woes of the world, all the conspiracy’s the government is coming up with, the terrible things that scare people into thinking the world is ending… the scripture text is Isaiah 8:12-14…

I posted this next quote on Facebook [where this has been happening] to make my stand clear.

I could never have said this better myself… this is why I do not tangle myself in the worries of this world and wonder “what shall become of it” because I need no news and media cast, the end of the Best Book in the world revealed it all. Isaiah 8:12-14;
“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
and you are not to fear what they fear or dread it.
“It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
and Him shall you fear
and Him shall you dread
then He will become a sanctuary.”

It’s such a beautiful thing to not tangle one’s self in the affairs and the fears of this world

.the Foolish Speculate and the Ignorant Act.

sunday afternoon anna and I went to movie magic to watch Courageous [againnn for me] and i loved it the second time around. it’s such a great movie! all you daddy’s out there, go watch it!  :)

God is calling you to a higher purpose but you can’t meet it without His help.

barn progress! photos soon, I do promise! we’ve got all the poles in and planted. and have begun the stringers. it was a slow start getting those stringers started today but now that we’ve got a process going it’s going to be a lot quicker. then boarding in the walls. so excited for this barn. it’s going to be wonderful, an answer to prayers.

also, this weather! what a blessing this weather has been. God has truly given us the blessing of good weather for this project.

during recent Sabbath studying I came across these verses; “But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s servant must be not quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged. With gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” 2Tim3:23

i was encouraged to feel this being sent to me from God. I have been dealing with – off and on for a good year now – foolish and ignorant speculations – other wise known as “perceived actions and words” – with insecure people in their own relationships.

things that i should not have to deal with or be drawn into but am. jealousy, selfishness, insecurities, ignorance.

i wish i was able to bring some peace and love to these hearts. i shall not give up! the good and right path being traveled will prevail!

these words straight from the Bible are so encouraging to me right now.

when dealing with selfishness and insecurities you must needs be kind, able to teach, patient.

otherwise it’s true, it’ll turn angry and quarrelsome.

such beauty in the world around us and yet, in the name of justice we cry out in hatred, in the name of honor we sacrifice the innocent, in the name of God we ask for love, but we know nothing about the importance of Love.

.Chrysanthemums.

are toxic. to most all pets, just so you know. if you have dogs, cats, or horses don’t leave them lying around.

i wish i had known before now.

my horses were out and about grazing the autumn grasses around the farm and one of them came up to the porch and helped herself to the bucket of apples. but unknown to me, also helped herself to the three potted plants of chrysanthemums by the front steps that we used with decorations during Sukkot.

if i had known they were toxic i would have made sure they were out of reach, i had no idea.

once it was brought to my attention one of the horses had eaten them and that they are toxic i did some research and found the symptoms and diagnosis.

Juliet was the only one acting abnormal – [at first I was suspecting Star but she seemed fine] – sweating in patches along her belly and rolling some. classic signs of colic.

through monitoring her i was able to know she wasn’t colicing but still there was discomfort and it was obvious she was the one who ate the mums.

now there’s no more rolling, she’s eating and drinking fine, and the sweating seems to have ended and is drying.

i was out there with her for a while. diognosing the syptoms and figuring out what to do for her and at a loss as to what to do for her to ease her discomfort [bute in a in-digestive system can lead to more problems, so "horse aspirin" wasn't the answer]

i was feeling so alone and badgered with problems from all sides lately, and this happening to one of my beloved equines was just the last straw. i wanted to ask God why and i was looking up at the skies, my natural habit when out in His creation and seeking His divinity. and well, to my surprises the sky was absorbed in Northern Lights.

it was beautiful! i was shocked to see the colors, the rare sight, the stunning collaboration of zig zagged lights. i’ve only ever seen Norther Lights once before and i don’t remember it… i only remember all the excitement about it was going to happen, i know that i saw them, but somehow i don’t remember them. i was young, and the excitement my family exhibited meant more to me than natural gases in the sky.

tonight it was like an answer. i felt His answer. i’m not alone, a God who can create such a sight in the vast skies surely hasn’t left me alone or is unable to reach down and lift me out of any trivial problems in my daily life.

He’s a stunning God.

i stood with Juliet and massaged her stomach for a while, watching the lights, they faded slowly into streaks of minty blue all across the sky but once i was satisfied she was more comfortable and not going to die on me i took a leisurely walk back to the house and smiled up at the stars.

i just want to say Thank You God. You lit up the sky like a big, warming hug.